By Corey Everitt
Pakenham local David Hale is keeping busy in retirement with his funky gumboot dog creations which kids of friends, family and the community enjoy.
What started as a little hobby of recycling thrown away gumboots to make toys for kids in the family, these goofy dogs are now sought after by the community.
Recently, Kooweerup’s Premium Regional Disability Service purchased one for their sensory garden project.
Project manager Linny Jenkins said they were a smash hit with the kids and a clever way to recycle.
The source of David’s idea came far away from Pakenham, in Glasgow.
Traveling in Scotland, with his wife Vivian, they were enjoying one of the many modern art museums in Glasgow.
In their stroll through the gallery, they come across the piece ‘Hound of Geevor’, a sculpture by British artist David Kemp which depicts a dog formed out of old rubber boots used by miners.
“I said to Viv, I could probably do that,” David said of his reaction to the piece that would probably go for tens of thousands on the art market today.
Having come home in 2017, he decided to scavenge discarded gum boots off the side of the roads in town.
He made his first gumboot dog with ease and even added more detail such as eyes and a tongue.
“It only takes a few hours to make them, actually,” he said.
“Some of them are a little bit more difficult to make, if you are dealing with a small boot, it’s a bit hard to stretch and make it.”
Originally giving some to just family, who would also help with picking thrown-away gumboots, his side-hobby picked up the attention of friends and, eventually, others in the community.
“I’ve giving a couple away to family,” David said.
“A few friends have asked me to make them one.
“They pay me some, to cover the cost of the few things, like the screws and things like that, the bits of wood I get.”
David still makes the gumboot dogs today after seeing the reception it has had, particularly with children.
“We’ve got a friend who is a well-being officer in one of these schools here and they have a wellness dog that comes around to the school.
“She decided she would buy one of these, it’s a very colourful one that she’s got, and just keep it in the office, every kid that goes in there pats it.
“She had to do a test with one of the children a few weeks ago and they wouldn’t go into the room unless the gumboot dog went in with them.”
David even submitted a gumboot dog to this year’s Pakenham Art Show.
“I put a price on it and I went up there about 20 minutes after the show started and it had been sold already,” he said.
“The treasurer for it, she was handling the money and everything, she bought it.
“She said, you should have put a bigger price on it David.”
Despite the positive interest, David makes it clear that these creations are straightforward for him and they fit within an overall activity of just keeping engaged in the community.
“As I said, it only takes me a few days because I do a couple of things and I leave it for half a day, but it only takes three or four hours to make one,” he said.
“I’m also involved with Legacy, they support widows and children of ex-serviceman, and I volunteer at Casey Hospital, I go there a couple of days a week and do balloon animals for the kids.
“These are just things to give a reason to get up in the morning, if you are not working, you don’t want to rust out I think.
“It keeps me involved in the community and gives me something to do.”
